Amid slump, Goodheart delivers big hit in win over Vandy

Matt Goodheart looked lost at the plate Wednesday afternoon.

A day after going 0 for 6 and notching a golden sombrero, though, the senior delivered the biggest hit of the game as Arkansas punched its ticket to the SEC Tournament semifinals with a 6-4 over Vanderbilt in Hoover, Ala.

In the fourth inning, Goodheart hit a one-out double over the left fielder’s head that drove in two runs to give the Razorbacks their first lead of the day and they never looked back. The hit also chased Kumar Rocker, the Commodores’ ace.

“I didn't think he was going to give me a fastball…with a base open, and he had a right-handed hitter coming up,” Goodheart said. “But I was kind of thinking, maybe, if he does give me that fastball, I'll be ready for it, and I hit it.”

Not only did the swing put Arkansas on top, but it was an encouraging sign for Goodheart, as well. The first-team All-SEC selection has been in the midst of a slump the last three weeks and was just 1 for his last 30 before the double.

Asked about Goodheart’s recent struggles after Wednesday’s 0-fer in a win over Georgia, head coach Dave Van Horn said there wasn’t anything wrong mechanically, but rather it was all between the ears.

“It was good to see Matt go to the plate with a little more confidence tonight,” Van Horn said Thursday. “That was a beautiful swing when he hit that ball opposite field over the left fielder's head and drove in a couple of runs and gave us our first lead of the night.”

The two-run double came in his first at bat after being hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the second inning. That gave him the first of his three RBIs and also tied the game at 2-2.

It was a scary play because Rocker tried to throw a fastball inside and it got away from him, hitting Goodheart in the helmet.

“Obviously, it caught me off guard,” Goodheart said. “Kumar throws pretty hard. My initial reaction was just like, it was coming at my face. I tried to get out of the way. Fortunately, it just barely clipped the ear piece of my helmet. It looked worse than it was, fortunately.”

Although he finished the game just 1 for 4, Goodheart appeared to be seeing the ball much better than he did against the Bulldogs.

He hit a chopper that looked like it might get through the right side for a single in the sixth, but the Commodores were shifted perfectly and second baseman Parker Noland made a really nice play to snag it and throw him out at first.

In his last at bat, Goodheart smoked a 2-0 pitch, but it hung in the air long enough for the center fielder to track it down for the final out of the eighth inning.

“Matt had some good at bats,” Van Horn said. “He easily could have had a couple more hits. … We need him. We've got to get him going and hopefully his confidence is up.”

Prior to the double, Goodheart’s batting average dipped to .267 with his first-inning strikeout. That is a full 50 points lower than where it was after the Georgia series, which he ended with a 2-for-3 performance that included a double and home run on May 9.

Beginning with a midweek game against Arkansas State, he really struggled at the plate. After an 0-for-10 showing at Tennessee, Goodheart did manage a single against the Gators, but that was it.

Despite the lack of production, he said he doesn’t like referring to the stretch as a slump.

“I'd have one game that I wasn't proud of and then I'd have a game that I was 0 for 3, but hit three balls right on the screws right at someone,” Goodheart said. “I felt like there wasn't a whole lot of luck falling my way. It was just a combination of things that didn't go my way. It is what it is, but law of averages.”

Aces Struggle

Most of the pregame hype surrounded the two starting pitchers. Rocker was a first-team All-SEC selection and is widely expected to be a top pick in this summer’s MLB Draft, while Patrick Wicklander emerged as a bonafide ace during SEC play and landed on the second team.

However, neither ace made it through the fourth inning and they allow eight total earned runs in seven combined innings.

Wicklander made it one out further than Rocker, lasting 3 2/3 innings before getting pulled. He was charged with three earned runs on five hits and three walks. He also had just one strikeout and only 35 of his 65 pitches were strikes.